Quote: Originally Posted by
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<snip> I want to say I need to go on a NO BUY for this month, which should be easy since I just bought a bunch of stuff the last two or three months, and it's my Birthday month so I'll be getting some little goodies here and there... but... eek! I just don't know! I don't know if I can do it. But I'll try! So, to start off my January goal is:
NO BUY for January, 2014 (excepting replacements of necessities).
Best of willpower, WE CAN DO IT!!!! WE WILL DO IT!
January babies! Yay! But I don't receive any presents, so any goodies I get are things I get from companies. I received email from Kiehl's the other day with a coupon for a free lip balm, so I'll buy some hand salve (this seems to be the hand cream of the year -- or at least this winter -- for me. I've tried several different ones over the past few weeks, and this one works the best for me when I'm at work and need something that soaks in quickly and doesn't get all over my paperwork) and get my free lip balm. If I get a code for a free eyeliner from Urban Decay, I will order the Naked 3 double-ended eyeliner (I picked up the N3 palette last month with the $20 discount at Sephora, and I'm saving its first use for my birthday, so it would be nice to have the liner to go with it for that day) and get an as-yet-undetermined single-color liner (there are many on my lust list!) as my free one. If I don't get that code, I'll get the N3 liner from Sephora and get their birthday goodie. If I *do* get the code and the liner from UD, then I'll probably get some shower gel caps (I have a trip in March that I'm actually going to need these for) and cotton pads (because I go through a tube a month or so and will need more anyway) in order to get the Sephora birthday gift so I don't have to deal with arguing about regular-vs-Rouge (I may not *want* the eyeliner, but I'm not going to skip it if it's on offer!) in a store. Oh, and I can buy the Aquarius nail wraps set from Scratch once it comes out. I consider this to be a birthday thing (I think it's probably going to be released on my birthday), so it's going into this paragraph. I don't use mascara, so I'll probably skip the Ulta CK mascara freebie.
And for non-birthday things, I am trying for a low-buy. A no-buy would be ideal and appropriate, but realistically, I know that's not going to work for me. No shower gel, no shampoo, no conditioner, no eyeliner except as already listed above, no nail polish (except *maybe* a Rainbow Honey order for my birthday. I'm not looking at that site until then, though!). The first three are no problem since I've been doing that since something like July anyway, but the eyeliner and polish will be very difficult. My always-exception: essence trend edition, $20 limit. I do need to order something from Birchbox in order to use some soon-to-expire points, but I'm holding out until I see what's in the January box for the purpose of free shipping (if they send out stila, I can get a blue ribbon smudge stick to replace the one I just had to toss due to a cracked cap rendering it dried out and unusable). And GDE sample jars: They're supposed to be releasing some new colors on the 20th, so I can get (at least some of) those *if* they are (a) not mattes and ( B) available in sample jar sizes. I know at least a couple are not mattes since I received sample baggies in my December OTM, but I don't know whether they're going to be available in sample jars. If not, I can get four sample jars of colors on my to-buy list (I'm going to take things slower with those jars this year than I did last year, so I'll be trying to limit myself to four sample jars a month, but I'm still working towards a complete collection of everything available in sample jar form because it will drive me crazy to stop at this point). I have over 1300 points at Sephora, so if a good point perk comes along, I can place a small-dollar order for some of the standard items I can always use more of (specifically, nail buffers, cotton pads, shower caps. So annoying: They only seem to have orange blossom available as shower caps, and it's one of my favorite scents!).
(I can buy essentials -- toothpaste, deodorant, etc. -- on an as-needed basis, but that's a standard thing, and I'm not really going to need anything except toothbrushes this month, and I'll be picking those as well as toilet paper up in a few weeks when I tag along with my aunt on one of her Costco runs unless Target has a big multi-pack of toothbrushes on clearance before our trip. They sometimes do that this time of year. Yes, I buy toothbrushes and toilet paper in bulk. Deodorant, too. I probably have a year's supply of Secret Outlast in the powder scent thanks to Costco!)
Oh, and loose pigments, which are such an obsession at the moment that they get their own section: Geek Chic Cosmetics are supposed to be releasing a new collection shortly, so depending on what that collection is, I can get either that *or* one of the other collections on my to-buy list. That list: Witchcraft and Wizardry, Auryn, Superneutrals, Strange Aeons, Win or Die, or Big Damn Heroes. When it comes to GCC, I only allow myself complete collections and only in fandoms I follow, so (for example) since I have never read or watched anything Tolkien, the Fellowship is out of the question. I had initially decided that I would get one collection a month from them this year, but then the Reckoning came along, and they cut a huge chunk of their catalog, which meant most of the collections I was going to get are now gone, which is probably for the best considering how much of a collector I am with this sort of thing! They may have a featured collection of the month (read: discounted), but unless it's on my list of collections-to-buy, I can't get it -- unless Netflix has the entire series on instant streaming *and* I am done with my rewatch of _The X-Files_. Then I will take it as A Sign that I need to watch that series! But I'm only in the third season, so it's probably going to be a couple of months before I'm done with the rewatch. So. Yeah. Universe, do what you will.
Subs: I can get the longest Glamour Doll Eyes sub I can get my hands on. I can keep my secondary Birchbox for January, and then I have to cancel as soon as I review that box and send a $10 gift card over to my primary account (an annual sub, and when that expires -- at the end of February, if I recall correctly -- I can go ahead and let it auto-renew). Other than those two, I've pared things down already (PopSugar went bye-bye after December's box), so I'm not going to put anything else on the chopping block. I will probably skip Julep just because I've been skipping for the past few months out of disinterest in what they have been offering lately, but I'm not canceling completely because they do have good collections every once in a while (and I have a lot of points to use). Whoops, changed my mind slightly: I am on the phone canceling my MoviePass right this very minute (I loved it, but I haven't had time to go to a movie -- except for a couple in theatres not in their system -- in a few months, so I need to not have it any more), so there's another $35 not hitting my credit card (my credit union canceled and replaced my debit card several months ago due to a law enforcement fraud alert, so I switched all of my subs over to my credit card. And I just received another notice from the credit union informing me that they're canceling and replacing that replacement debit card due to another law enforcement fraud alert! I know this second cancellation is almost definitely due to Target, but I still don't know what that first one was from).
Birthday money or gift cards: Go directly into my [insert city here] Comic Con wallet (I made one out of skull print duct tape for this specific purpose). The first con of the year is Emerald City, in Seattle (read: I will need to also cover hotel, gas, and parking, not to mention things from shops I miss from my years living up there) at the end of March, and then there's Rose City Comic Con in Portland in September (local to me, so I don't have to pay for hotel or more than about a gallon of gas if that much, but I'll probably still shell out for parking even though i have a bus pass because those are long days, I'll want to buy lots of heavy stuff, and parking is relatively cheap in that area). I want to focus on indie books at cons so I can buy them directly from the people who wrote/drew them. They mean a
little bit whole lot more to me when I can do that, especially if they sign and draw something in the book. I'm already stalking the guest page to see whose books I need to wait to buy until the con! While I might not be able to spend a Target/Safeway/Trader Joe's gift card directly at the con, I *can* use it to buy snacks and supplies for it. And I have a credit at amazon thanks in part to my change jar and in part to a gift card, and that will also be used for supplies for the con. I love having new goodies -- notebooks, pens, water bottle -- every time I embark on a new adventure, and cons are adventures, so there you go.
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: I actually cut *way* back on my orders last year. I even stopped getting decants. I've been turning to my old favorites and wearing them more consistently instead of bouncing from scent to scent. Instead of wearing a different Yule every day between Halloween and Christmas like I usually do, I wore Noche Buena 2010 almost every day. I still have no clue how I did that. I only got two Halloweenies this year (which are going to be set aside to age until next Halloweenie season) instead of many, and I'm thinking about two Yules (also to be set aside to age until next Yule season) and a single note this time around. And another BPAL resolution: Start putting my decanting leftovers up on eBay, probably five at a time, since I have *dozens* of them, and trying to sell them on bpal.org hasn't been working out very well lately (read: at all). Money from these sales (or anything else I put up on eBay. I have a lot of random crap I could probably sell there if I ever bothered to list it!) can go for more BPAL, the con fund, or towards my credit card bill, but *not* towards more makeup.
Other things that I will actually be making a concerted effort to buy, although these are overall for-the-year things: Jeans (I need two more pair, and, yeah, I mean *need* them. I drag my feet on buying pants until I absolutely have to, which means I'm down to two wearable pair, and I need four!), black pants for the office (same as with jeans, although I have four wearable pair. Six would be a better number), shoes for work (these are also delay-and-postpone-purchase things, in part because I try to buy shoes that last a long time, which translates to not-cheap, but I also have hard-to-fit feet, so it takes me ages to find shoes that fit comfortably. I think I can get away with just getting one new pair, although two would be even better), and comics/graphic novels from writers/artists who will *not* be at the aforementioned cons. I've been saying I'll get certain titles "next month" for two years now. It's been going on for so long that I've lost my list a few times! But 2013 was The Year of the Makeup Collection. 2014 is going to be The Year of the Comics Collection. I'll probably start with _Locke & Key_. Or maybe _Powers_.
(I do have an LBB open because the _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ poster was available again. I have A Thing for everything Alice, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm just interested in this bag for that print. I kicked myself for ages when I debated it for so long the first time around that it sold out, so when it showed up again, I pounced on it immediately. Anything else is something that just happens to be in the box with it. I'm really hoping to trade this iPhone case away, though, since I don't have a 5 and do not plan on getting one any time soon. My 4s works perfectly fine.)
I desperately need to turn my shopping and forum time to my apartment. It's a wreck. And I just have too much *stuff*. *And* I'm supposed to be getting a new fridge shortly, but "shortly" could mean "in two weeks" or "in two months," so I need to get *that* disaster cleaned out so I'm ready when my landlord lets me know it's time for delivery.